Pink Halloween is officially a thing, and TikTok is obsessed: ‘Forget Barbie, pink Halloween is the vibe’
A new pastel palette has just dropped for the 2023 Halloween season, and lovers of all things spooky and cute are rejoicing.
Within just two days, TikTok shopper and Halloween enthusiast Keri (@kerishops25) gained over 820,000 views, 121,000 likes, 9,000 shares and 1,200 comments when she shared Michaels' latest pink Halloween inventory drop.
Tagged #Pinkoween and #GirlyHalloween, Keri’s video was a hit with viewers. And while we know Halloween hauls are always a big deal for TikTokers — as we saw with the #CodeOrange craze back in July — this latest Halloween trend is ushering in a whole new shade of the spooky season and potentially shaking up the orange-and-black color scheme as we know it.
The ‘pink viral ghost blanket’ that launched a thousand TikToks
The Pinkoween craze seemingly began on July 7, when TikToker Ingrid (@ingridonthego) crowned a hot-pink-and-white ghost blanket found at HomeGoods the “viral blanket of the year.”
“THIS YEARS VIRAL HALLOWEEN BLANKET HAS ARRIVED,” Ingrid’s caption read. “Spooky season is arriving in stores and I can’t contain myself. I stumbled upon this blanket and fell in love”
Since then, TikTokers have been on the hunt for the throw — dubbed the “pink viral ghost blanket” — in stores all across the country, with the hashtag #PinkGhostBlanket wracking up over 16.6 million views.
“I NEED IT NOW,” commented @lindseylulu1014.
“Sold out in my area” wrote @gabyfuentesrivera.
“I’ve been hunting none stop” commented @stephy.always.
As the hot pink ghost blanket, made by Cupcakes & Cashmere, became a rarer trophy for Halloween lovers, it began appearing on resell sites like Poshmark at huge markups.
Originally retailing at stores for $24.99, resellers were listing the blanket for upwards of around $145 — a 480% markup.
However, soon after that blanket went viral, a new one caught shoppers’ eyes — one decidedly more pastel and softer in hue.
“New pink ghost blanket alertttt” wrote TikTok user @hyperfixationqueen, who shared the pastel find to her account on July 25.
“This one is so much better than the other one 🥰” commented @user2277242016.
“Wayyy better than the hot pink!!!” wrote @amberesmetana.
“Nah THIS is the desirable one, the hot pink shade is awful,” commented @babyboy_hector.
Pinkoween officially hits seasonal shelves
It seems the viral popularity of the #PinkGhostBlanket was not lost on companies like HomeGoods and Michaels, judging by the new wave of pastel-hued Halloween inventory currently hitting their shelves.
“In the last several years, we’ve seen a growing demand for styles that put a modern spin on classic Halloween décor to better complement year-round décor styles and trends,” Mandi Clark, Michaels’ lead trend and design expert, told In The Know by Yahoo.
“Our exclusive ‘Sweet and Spooky’ collection plays into the trend of pastels and light-hearted characters, aligned with the youthful Y2K aesthetics loved by Gen Z and style influences we’re seeing as a result of Barbie’s success. We had deemed this the year of ‘pasteloween,’ but it’s obvious pink is having a moment and this trend is morphing in real-time toward ‘pinkoween!’”
“Off to a good start with pink halloween finds this year at homegoods” wrote @kelseyo123 in the caption of her all-pink spooky haul.
“OBSESSED WITH THE PINK HALLOWEEN” wrote @golldbaabby.
“Forget Barbie, pink Halloween is the vibe” commented @sharkoceanscuba.
The pink wave sweeping the nation
Since the premiere of Greta Gerwig’s billion-dollar smash hit “Barbie,” stores have seen a massive uptick in pink sales, a trend that marketing analysts have dubbed the “pink wave.”
Pink was even Pantone’s 2023 color of the year (though the shade, Viva Magenta, leans a bit more red than the traditionally bubblegum-hued Barbie pink).
But while #BarbieCore is leading the pink charge in consumerism, the combination of pink and black — as seen in Pinkoween — could be Barbenheimer’s doing.
With both “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” hitting theaters at the same time, social media has been flooded with mash-ups of the cheery Barbiecore aesthetic and that of the gloomy, death-ridden Oppenheimer.
It’s possible that such a visual and philosophical contrast appealed to TikTokers on a personal level.
“This aesthetic is me as a person and I’m LOVING it” wrote @katlynngbennett.
“My pastel goth heart loves it,” commented @hiighasell.
Still, many Halloween traditionalists insist that the only appropriate Halloween palette is black and orange — a combo that dates back to the early 1900s.
“Save the pink for EASTER don’t fix what isn’t broken!” commented @violetlily01.
“Halloween will never be a pink holiday and I love pink. It’s all about the Orange, Green, Purple, and Black,” wrote @mb_escapades.
However, as TikTok user @rayeaa wrote, “I see it like Christmas- Halloween is whatever you want it to be !! 🥰”
In The Know by Yahoo is now available on Apple News — follow us here!
The post Pink Halloween is officially a thing, and TikTok is obsessed: ‘Forget Barbie, pink Halloween is the vibe’ appeared first on In The Know.
More from In The Know:
Mom's creepy 'raw meat' Rice Krispies Treats disgust and delight TikTok: 'That looks too real'
TikTok is obsessed with these 11 French pharmacy items you can get on Amazon
Yes, you need to be cleaning your washing machine — and this is the easiest way to do it
